Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us! Precious Blood, Most pure Offering: Procure us every Grace! Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of sinners: Atone for us! Precious Blood, Delight of holy souls: Draw us!
By Aleteia For many of us, when we sit down to pray, we are bombarded by constant distractions. It could be anything from the ticking of the clock on the wall, the honking of a horn outside, or even a barrage of thoughts about various people or relationships in our lives. It can be difficult to focus our attention on God and remain in a conversation with him. However, sometimes these distractions aren’t “distractions” at all, they are thoughts introduced by God that are aimed at our spiritual benefit. For example, here is what St. Thérèse of Lisieux wrote about being distracted during prayer. I also have many [distractions] but as soon as I am aware of them, I pray for those people the thought of whom is diverting my attention, and in this way they reap benefit from my distractions. Sometimes God wants to divert our attention and shed light on a struggling friend or family member. They may need our prayers or our charity. This way the distraction is turned in the right way and instead of taking us away from God, it brings us closer to him and his divine plan. The key is to be attentive when that happens and notice when you being thinking about someone in your life, or even something you saw on Facebook. In some instances God may want you to be praying for that individual or extending a helpful hand to them. Read more…
Prayer Hail, Holy Mary, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Mother of all nations and all people. You are the special heavenly Mother of the Chinese people. Teach us your way of total obedience to God’s will. Help us to live our lives true to our faith. Fill our hearts with burning love for God and each other. Stir up in our youth an unconditional giving of self to the service of God. We call on your powerful intercession for peace, reconciliation and unity among believers and the conversion of the unbelievers in China and throughout the world, for God’s mercy is our only hope. Our Lady of China, Mother of Jesus, hear our petitions and pray for us. Amen. Imprimatur: Bishop William E. Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport Connecticut Description of the Virgin The Virgin Mary appeared as a beautiful lady in white in the sky surrounded by light. The resulting paiting using a painting of Emperess Dowager CiXi as a backdrop, features the image of the Blessed Virgin in the royal robes of the pagan Empress, with the Christ Child on her knees, is vivid expression of Chinese tradition. It is a shrine of the Mother and her Son. Though her robes be pagan, she belongs to every age, to all people and to every race. Miracles, Cures, and Signs When the Boxer Rebellion broke out, nearly 10,000 hostile soldiers attacked the small impoverished village of Dong Lu, home of approximately 1,000 Christians. The Virgin Mary appeared as a beautiful lady in the sky surrounded by light. A fiery horsemen – perhaps St. Michael – chased the attackers out of the village. Read more…
Dearest and most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, overflowing with affection, Daughter of the Sovereign King, and Queen of the Angels: Mother of Him Who created all things, this day and all the days of my life I commend to the bosom of thy regard my soul and my body, all my actions, thoughts, wishes, desires, words, and deeds, my whole life, and my end: so that through thy prayers they may all be ordered according to the will of thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Lady most holy, be my helper and my comforter against the attacks and snares of the ancient foe, and of all my enemies. Amen
Holy Mother, Our Lady of Tenderness, you who manifested your loving presence to the faithful in the miraculous icon of Vladimir, I come to you with a fervent heart. I ask for your intercession to protect my loved ones and me from all evil and to guide us in our daily lives. In your infinite compassion, wrap us in your mantle of tenderness and shower upon us your grace and mercy. May we always follow your example of faithfulness, humility, and love. Our Lady of Tenderness, we trust in your powerful intercession and pray that you lead us ever closer to your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Read more…
“Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.Stay with me Lord, because I am weak, and I need Your strength, so that I may not fall so often.Stay with me Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without fervor.Stay with me Lord, for You are my light, and without you, I am in darkness.Stay with me Lord, to show me Your will.Stay with me Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.Stay with me Lord, for I desire to love you very much, and always be in Your Company.Stay with me Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.Stay with me Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love.Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late, and the day is coming to a close, and life passes, death, judgment, eternity approach. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile.Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You.Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.Stay with me Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to you, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.Stay with me Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation because I do not merit it, but the gift of Your presence, oh yes, I ask this of You.Stay with me Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity.Amen.”
Blessed Bartolo Longo was born to a devout Catholic family in 1841. His formative years were a tumultuous time for Italy, and he was swept up in nationalistic fervor. Many of his college professors were actually ex-priests who took a dim view of the Catholic Church. Bartolo started to dabble in the occult. He eventually embraced Satanism. He was consecrated a Satanic priest and promised his soul to a demon. To his family’s dismay, he preached against the Catholic Faith and presided over blasphemous rituals. His mental and physical state deteriorated until he couldn’t deny that he needed help. He began to talk to a Catholic professor from his university, who referred him to a Dominican priest. The priest met with Bartolo for three weeks before he was able to offer absolution. Bartolo became a third-order Dominican, but he was still plagued with guilt about his past life. He was especially traumatized by the experience of promising his soul to a demon and doubted that God would accept him after having done something so heinous. These thoughts nearly drove him to suicide. But then he remembered a homily he had heard on the power of the Rosary. “Falling to my knees, I exclaimed: ‘If your words are true that he who propagates your Rosary will be saved, I shall reach salvation because I shall not leave this earth without propagating your Rosary,” he said Read more: 6 Inspirational Stories about the Rosary – Ascension Press Media
My heavenly Father, as I enter this work place, I bring your presence with me.I speak your peace, your grace, your mercy and your perfect order into my work.I acknowledge your power over all that will be done, spoken, thought and decided within these walls.Lord, I thank you for the gifts you have blessed me with.I commit to use them responsibly in your honor.Give me a fresh supply of strength to do my job.Anoint my projects, ideas, and energy, so that even my smallest accomplishment may bring you glory. Lord, when I am confused, guide me.When I am weary, energize me.When I am burned out, infuse me with the light of the Holy Spirit.May the work that I do and the way I do it bring faith, joy and a smile to all that I come in contact with today.And oh Lord, when I leave this place, give me traveling mercy.Bless my family and home to be in order as I left it.Lord, I thank you for everything you’ve done, everything you are doing, and everything, you are going to do.In the name of Jesus I pray, with much love and thanksgiving.In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Our Lady of Prompt Succor,ever Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God,you are most powerful against the enemy of our salvation. The divine promise of a Redeemer was announced right after the sin of our first parents; and you, through your Divine Son, crushed the serpent’s head. Hasten, then, to our help and deliver us from the deceits of Satan. Intercede for us with Jesus that we may always accept God’s graces and be found faithful to Him in our particular states of life. As you once saved our beloved city from ravaging flames and our country from an invading army, have pity on us and obtain for us protection from hurricanes and all other disasters. (Silent pause for individual petitions.) Assist us in the many trials which beset our path through life. Watch over the Church and the Pope as they uphold with total fidelity the purity of faith and morals against unremitting opposition. Be to us truly Our Lady of Prompt Succor now and especially at the hour of our death, that we may gain everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us! Amen.
The Rosary of Our Lady of Tears The Rosary of Our Lady of Tears (or chaplet) is prayed with seven decades of seven beads between larger beads. It can also be prayed with an Our Lady of Sorrows Rosary. The Prayers Start with the Sign of the Cross, Our Father and Hail Mary, then continue: 1. Beginning Prayer:Crucified Jesus, prostrate at Your feet, we offer You the tears of the Mother who, with love full of devotion and sympathy, accompanied You on Your painful way to Calvary. Grant, O Good Master, that we take to heart the lessons which the tears of Your Most Holy Mother have taught us, so that we may fulfill Your Holy Will on earth and become worthy to praise and bless You in heaven for all eternity. Amen. 2. Large Beads (instead of the “Our Father” say):v. O Jesus, look upon the tears of the Mother who loved You most while on earth, r. And who loves You so ardently in heaven. 3. Seven Small Beads (instead of the “Hail Mary” say):v. O Jesus hear our petitions,r. For the sake of the tears shed by Your dearest Mother. 4. At the End (repeat 3 times):O Jesus, look upon the tears of the Mother who loved You most while on earth, and who loves You so ardently in heaven. 5. Concluding Prayer:O Mary, Mother of Love, of Sorrows and of Mercy, we beg You, join Your prayers with ours so that Jesus, Your Divine Son to whom we turn, will graciously hear our petitions for the sake of Your maternal tears, and, together with the graces we implore, grant us finally the reward of eternal life. Amen. With Your tears, O sorrowful Mother, destroy the dominion of Satan. Through Your divine tenderness, O bound and fettered Jesus, defend the world from the errors which threaten it. Amen. Read more… Image: healingheartofjesus.com